Chapter 107: Ruthless

If there was a next life, Chu Che only wanted to kill that bastard Chen Ye.

He had been careful, careful, and extra careful before, specifically finding a deserted place to do that embarrassing thing.

Yet he still got caught red-handed by this bastard.

Not only did he see it, but even the Pink-haired Girl saw it too.

Chu Che felt his entire body go rigid. When he slowly turned around, he saw one mocking expression and one looking at him like he was some creepy uncle.

Who else could it be but Chen Ye and the Pink-haired Girl.

When he returned to his own tent to rest.

Chen Ye noticed the temperature inside the tent seemed even lower than yesterday.

Fortunately, practicing the "Observing the Blood Moon Breathing Technique" these days had significantly improved his overall strength, along with his ability to withstand the cold.

But those ordinary survivors probably wouldn't make it through tonight.

When returning to his tent, Chen Ye saw a meditating figure beside the school bus.

It was Ding Dong.

The woman's body expanded and contracted with her breathing, and between her nostrils, a white mist coiled like a swimming dragon.

This woman was also a relentless worker, though different from the Pink-haired Girl's desperate sword practice.

Ding Dong's meditation represented cultivation.

This woman could sometimes sit in the desert for an entire night.

She said she was practicing some meditation method.

Not sure if it's the same approach as my breathing technique.

Chen Ye extinguished the cigarette at his lips, deciding to smoke less starting tomorrow.

His cigarette reserves were running low too.

Chu Che and Iron Lion still had some, but trying to trade for cigarettes from Captain Chu...

After tonight's incident, it probably wouldn't be easy; that black-hearted captain would definitely rip him off.

Might as well trade with Iron Lion instead.

After all, they had many people, and food was never enough.

He was alone, so he had relatively more food.

The next morning was no different from every previous morning.

The morning sun began to disperse last night's extreme low temperatures.

A layer of white frost on the sand dunes was disappearing at an incredibly fast pace.

The vehicle's repair and upgrade were complete.

The front windshield that had been blown out by the sandstorm now looked like it was original equipment.

The two doors and side mirrors were modified to fit perfectly; aside from the door paint not matching the original body color, you couldn't tell they were aftermarket installations.

But in the desert, as long as it could drive, appearance didn't matter at all.

Taking advantage of the morning time, Chen Ye also found that small electric fan and secured it to the dashboard with rope.

Now the daily solar charging was enough for the small fan to operate freely.

Originally, Chen Ye could have integrated the small fan into the vehicle.

But it would have cost an extra fifty Slaughter Points.

To save those fifty points, Chen Ye didn't integrate the fan into the vehicle.

Anyway, it worked the same; everything was about practicality, eliminating all waste.

For the foreseeable future, without additional Slaughter Points coming in, he needed to use them cautiously.

While the camp was still preparing breakfast.

Some survivors discovered that two people hadn't come out of their tents.

When Old Bao arrived, these two had already frozen to death last night.

Old Bao just waved his hand and had people dig a hole in the sand dunes to bury them.

Everything was handled very casually.

Even friends who were close to these two didn't show much sorrow.

In the apocalypse, death was the eternal theme.

After eating, they set out.

That kid Xue Nan had already helped Chen Ye pack up the tent and all other belongings onto the vehicle while Chen Ye was eating.

Chen Ye tossed him a piece of camel meat and didn't bother with him further.

Xue Nan was now the camp's famous ugly man.

Those who had approached him because of his appearance before now wished to stay far away from him.

But in Xue Nan's eyes, Chen Ye was the only good person in the convoy.

Even though Chen Ye was cold, ignored him, and sometimes looked at him like he was looking at a dead person, at an object.

But Xue Nan still felt grateful to Chen Ye.

Because Chen Ye's attitude toward him had never changed.

Before Xue Nan's disfigurement, Chen Ye had been just as cold, neglectful, and heartless.

The way he looked at him had been like looking at a dead person from the very beginning.

It was the same now, unchanged.

In fact, Chen Ye hadn't treated him differently.

Because Chen Ye looked at all ordinary survivors as if they were dead people, with that same uniform disregard, coldness, and heartlessness.

Xue Nan saw no differential treatment in Chen Ye's eyes.

Actually, in Chen Ye's view, all survivors would die someday; it was just a matter of living one more day or dying one day earlier.

The new Apocalyptic Pickup Truck started up.

It was still the same beat-up looking pickup truck from the outside.

But internally, it had undergone significant changes.

It had been reborn.

This time, Chen Ye felt a clear difference from the previously loose and shaky vehicle.

Even traveling through the desert, that feeling of powerlessness had noticeably decreased, and the vehicle's power response was much quicker than before.

With so many supplies loaded in the truck bed.

Before, when starting the vehicle, it would always slowly sway left and right a couple of times.

But now, when Chen Ye started it, the vehicle responded immediately.

Sitting inside, Chen Ye could even clearly feel the road conditions.

This kind of intuition usually only came to veteran drivers with decades of experience, but Chen Ye could sense it distinctly.

He could even feel the vehicle's dimensions, every turn, every straight drive - he could sense how much space the vehicle occupied.

Old drivers called this "vehicle sense."

This should be the activated trait taking effect.

Chen Ye stepped on the gas, and the pickup accelerated to pull up beside the school bus.

Iron Lion, sitting in his vehicle, looked puzzled at the pickup beside the school bus.

"This car... seems to have grown taller!"

"No, it really has grown taller."

Before, it wasn't so easy for Chen Ye's vehicle to catch up with Chu Che and the Pink-haired Girl's pickup.

But now, it was just a matter of stepping on the gas.

Both side windows were rolled down completely, sunglasses resting on his nose bridge.

He took one last swig of bottled water, capped the empty bottle, and tossed it into the back seat.

Accelerating again, he overtook the school bus and pulled up beside Chu Che's vehicle.

"Captain, found the water source yet?"

Chen Ye drove parallel to Chu Che's vehicle, shouting loudly to Chu Che in the other car.

Chu Che was currently studying that simple map, occasionally leaning out the window to look around.

"If you stop bothering me, I can find it faster!"

Chu Che retorted irritably at Chen Ye.

Chen Ye curled his lips, slowed down, and let Chu Che's vehicle take the lead.

Just in case they encountered quicksand or something.

Captain Chu would definitely die first.

The situation that followed wasn't very promising.

Chu Che studied that very crude map almost every day.

He would occasionally get out of the vehicle, squat down, and taste the sand.

Each time, everyone's expressions went from expectation to disappointment, then to numbness.

The novelty of seeing the desert at first had now turned to irritation and oppression at the sight of sand.

But there was no choice; the convoy had been trapped in the desert for a long time, with no signs of leaving yet.

Survivors had already started falling behind.

The food and water for ordinary survivors were limited.

Especially drinking water - it was more precious than gold now.

Chen Ye's water was also being rapidly depleted.

Even though Chen Ye had been very restrained, he still couldn't stop the consumption rate.

No helping it - the desert heat was just too terrifying.

"Sir, Mr. Chen, please, I beg you, give me some water! I can't hold on much longer!"

Finally, someone couldn't endure it anymore, his knees giving way as he knelt before Chen Ye, begging for a bottle of water.

The man's voice was hoarse as he continuously kowtowed to Chen Ye, his forehead hitting the scorching sand, picking up grains that made him appear even more pitiful.

Probably due to extreme dehydration, the man's kowtowing movements were very slow.

As if he might collapse in the desert at any moment.

These past days, people had been begging the superhumans for water.

Chu Che, Iron Lion, the Pink-haired Girl, and Ding Dong had all given out some water.

Only Chen Ye hadn't given out a single drop.

So someone decided to try their luck with Chen Ye.

Chen Ye walked away expressionlessly.

He still had some water, but it wasn't unlimited either. If he gave it to others, he would have none.

If Chen Ye dared to give any, the next second would see countless water beggars gathering around him.

Some might even dare to rush onto Chen Ye's vehicle to steal it.

Giving away his own chance at survival to others?

Don't even think about it!

Just as Chen Ye took two steps away, the water beggar's body tilted sideways and collapsed onto the sand, clearly breathing his last.

Other survivors who witnessed such cold-hearted indifference from Chen Ye saw the hope in their eyes dim, with some even harboring hidden hatred in their gazes.

Chen Ye was right - if he had started giving water.

They would immediately kneel before Chen Ye begging, even though many of them hadn't reached complete desperation yet.

"Chen... Chen Ye."

This time, standing before Chen Ye was Xu Lina.

The woman now looked like a flower about to wither, with chapped lips and dried-out hair.

Even so, she still maintained some irresistible charm, that delicate and pitiful appearance making people feel even more affectionate.

Although the woman was on the school bus, Old Li's control over water resources was even more extreme than Old Bao's.

As long as you weren't dying of thirst, you couldn't get water.

"Chen Ye, could you... give me some water?"

Xu Lina squeezed these words out with difficulty from her parched throat, her eyes full of expectation.

Chen Ye's refusal to give water to that other person was understandable - after all, he didn't know that person.

But I'm Xu Lina, even if we have nothing.

You should have felt my affection for you.

Giving some water isn't too much to ask.

Just a little would be enough!

It should work.

After all, I'm Xu Lina; in Chen Ye's eyes, I should be different.

Therefore, even though Xu Lina saw Chen Ye reject others, she still came forward to ask for some water.

And firmly believed she would get water from Chen Ye.

"No!"

Chen Ye refused Xu Lina's pitiful begging without the slightest hesitation.